Water-meter.



T. ECK & 0. CATHCART. WATER METER. I APPLICATION FILED AUG-3" I915- 1,280,689. Patented 0d. 8, 1918.

I a v I a/ l r I .55 i 5 9 z/ m Miran STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE ECK AND OItIE- CATHCABT, F MULVANE, KANSAS.

warnnrmn'rnn.

v Specification of Letters Patent.

'- I Apirlicatimrlflleddugust$1,1915.v Serial 1%. 4a,274.

I To all whom it may concern:

. Be it knownthat we, THEODORE ECK and OBIE CATHOART, citizens of the United States, residing at Mulvane, in the county of Sumner and State of Kansas,-have invented new and useful Improvements in Water- Meters, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to water meters, and it has particular reference to that type of water meters that is provided with a nutating piston;

Makers "of water meters have long been confronted with the difiiculty that the working parts of the meter which are utilized for actuating the registering device and which are-necessarily at all times in contact with water have been liable to corrosion and consequent deterioration, materially shortening the life of the meter. These working parts have usually been made of metal, al-

though other materials have been exper1-- mented with. No success, however, has herethe piston to the registering device usually lasts'a long time and is able to resist hard usage, especially when made of metal such as bronze or some similar alloy, but some of the bearings and the spindles which have been subject to hard wear have been found to deteriorate in from one to two years time to such an extent as to render the meter and the registration thereof inaccurate.

We have discovered that the piston and the abutment cooperating therewith may be successfully made of glass, this material possessing the requisite wear-proof qualities as well as the ability to resistcorrosion and beingof suitable specific gravity, in addition to which we find that the water acts as a lubricant for the glass, making the operation of the piston and the abutment prac tically frictionless. In like manner we find that some of the gear carrying spindles may be advantageously provided with glass ferrules and that glass bearings or ewels may proper specific gravity to opbe advantageously provided of the meter. g Our invention may, therefore, be said to consist in the production of a water meter having working parts; made ;of glass, the said working parts consisting particularly PatentedOct.8,1918.

at many parts of the piston and the abutment and also of such other parts a will be hereinafter desig nated and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which,-

Figure 1 is a view insid water meter, parts having been broken away e elevation of 'a' for the purpose of exposing the interior construction.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the piston detached.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the disk chamber abutment detached. I

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view of a gear carrying shaft equipped with a glass ferrule, showing also the glass jewel or bearing fo the same.

- Fig. 5 is a sectionaldetail view showing a gear carrying system made of glass.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a bearing sleeve made. of glass, parts having -been broken away.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

15 and 16 designate, respectively, the

lower and upper halves of the disk chamber, i

the same being contained within the casing of which 17 designates the lower portion and 18 the top portion. The registry box, shown at 19, contains the registering mechanism which is driven by a train of gears G initially actuated by the piston stem .20 engaging" a crank 21. on the main shaft 22. The stem 20 is suitably connected with the piston P which is of the well known shape comprising a sphericalbody 2.3 havingacir cumferential flange 24 which is provided with a radial notch or recess 25 for the reception of the abutment 26. The entire piston, as well as the abutment, is madeof glass, the piston being preferably molded, while the abutment may be cut from. a sheet of glass of suitable dimensions and afterward ground so as to fit the disk chamber and the piston as snugly as may be desired. The customary inlet and outlet 27 ,28 are provided as well as the strainer which is shown.

One of the gear carrying stems or shafts 30 has been shown as being rovided with a glass ferrule 31 for which a step or bearing 32 also made of glass is provided. Another gear carrying shaft 33 has been shown as eing constructed of glass, and for this stem or shaft a sleeve or bearing 34 also made of glass is provided. These details are to be regarded as merely illustrative, and it is to be understood that wherever it may be found to be possible and desirable, glass is to be substituted for-metal or other material in the construction of such parts as are exposed to the action of water.

In the mechanical construction of the meter no novelty is here claimed, it being understood that the invention in a general sense is applicable to the various forms of water meters now in use. A particular advantage of the invention resides in the fact that the essential parts, and especially, the piston and the abutment, may be installed in meters now in use by substituting the same for the present parts at a very modmemes of said stem.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, 'is:,

A water meter comprising a casing, a piston therein formed of glass and comprislng a spherical body having a circumferential flange provided with a radial slot, an abutment also made of glass and snugly fitting the said slot and having its inner end provided with a curved recess to snugly engage the spherical body, and a stem made of metal connected with said spherical body.

In'testimony whereof we afiix, our signatures.

THEODORE ECK. URIE CATHGART. 

